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Intelligence is more important than vision

16.11.2012

Researchers at the University of Virginia found that the ability of the brain to process an image is even more important than the ability of the eyes to see the surroundings. In other words, the eyes may collect less information than the brain subsequently presents. The secret of this "miracle" lies in the processing of the picture, which the brain is able to complete with the missing elements.

The studies were carried out on fruit fly larvae, whose eyes have only 24 photoreceptors (the human eye contains more than 125 million photoreceptors). Surprisingly, despite the extremely primitive organs of vision, fly larvae can confidently navigate in space and recognize images that, in theory, should cause them difficulty. In particular, the larvae successfully detected their counterpart attached to the bottom of the Petri dish. The attempts of the larva to free itself attracted other larvae, which aroused the interest of scientists.

After several further experiments, the scientists found that the almost blind larvae nod their heads from side to side, "scanning" space. Just from a couple of dozen pixels of such a "panoramic shooting" the brain of the larvae was able to create a recognizable image. Similarly, an astronomer, with a small telescope and many observations, can analyze a blurry image and reveal a lot about a distant planet.

The scientists note that people with severe vision loss also tend to use "scanning" head shakes as a means of imaging. In addition, visually impaired people who have received experimental retinal implants with a small number of pixels also often use head shaking to collect the maximum amount of light. This helps the brain form recognizable mental images with a minimum of input information.

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Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (USA) have managed to grow a human stomach in a test tube. True, in size it does not exceed 3 mm in diameter, however, despite its diminutiveness, it largely repeats the structure of a "natural" organ.

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